Ticktacktoe
by JokerCarnage5
Summary: Takes place between episode 7 & episode 8 of Total Drama Pahkitew Island. Shawn, Dave & Max decides to play a game of ticktacktoe in the cave.


Ticktacktoe

**A story by JokerCarnage5**

**Total Drama Pahkitew Island belongs to Fresh TV*.**

Shawn was overlooking team Kinosewak's tree house from a tree he was sitting in. He saw Jasmine sitting on a tree branch above the tree hose with her back against the trunk. She turned her head and saw Shawn, giving him a dismissive frown. Shawn flinched back at this. He could feel his lingering heart break. Jasmine hadn't wanted to speak to him since the stick collection challenge. He looked towards the window and saw Sky sitting on her new bed, hanging her head in sadness. She was probably missing Dave. He then saw Scarlett stepping towards the entrance. She dropped a stick with a rope tied to it and when it hit the ground she wrote something down in her note pad. Obviously was she measuring the how far it was to the ground by using a rope she already used the rope she already knew the length off. Shawn made turned to leave but looked one final time at Jasmine that was frowning into the distance.

Shawn sighed in regret and started jumping from tree to tree toward his team's cave. Shawn used an entrance that only he used. It was a small tunnel that went from the roof into the cavern. Everyone else used the larger and entrance on the ground. He climbed into the small tunnel, pressing his body thru like a tarantula.

He popped out his head in the cavern. From there he could get an overlooking view of his entire team. Sugar was already a sleep. Dave was sitting on a rock near the wall sighing and looking overall miserable. His been depressed ever since Sky left the team. Max was sitting closer to the main exit. He was drawing a picture of Scarlett's face in the ground. He looked sad too. He then started erasing the drawing.

Shawn felt sorry for them both, granted he didn't like Max that much but Dave actually had a lot more sense than most on this island and was probably his closest comrade. He rubbed his chin trying to find a solution. A short smile grew on his face when he got an idea and he jumped down to Dave.

"Hey Dave, you want to play"?

Dave looked at him for a moment. "No thanks" he sighed.

Shawn growled at Dave's dismissal. "Dave, I really want to play ticktacktoe, can you please help me out" Shawn pleaded.

"Sigh, alright" Dave replied and got of the rock.

The two sat down on the ground. The cave floor was covered with a layer of pulverized rock that had been grinned of the walls by the ancient glaciers millennia ago.

Shawn took a stick and started drawing a square in the dust and split it up in smaller squares. Shawn normally didn't indulge himself or anyone else in games since he thought it made people careless but ever since his drawback with Jasmine he had decided to be more open to social interactions.

He looked over at Max. "Hey Max, you want to play ticktacktoe with us"?

"Evil doesn't play primitive games" Max arrogantly responded without even looking at Shawn.

"Afraid of losing" Shawn teased him.

This made Max turn and walk towards them. "I aint afraid of nothing" he replied.

"Fine than your in" Shawn said and Max sat down beside them.

Shawn wristed a few more squares to make up for a third player which wasn't a very good idea since the square was now an uneven rectangle but they didn't care. They decided that Shawn was X, Dave was check-marks and Max was circles.

"Dave, you start" Shawn said encouraging.

Dave lazily draw his mark in one of the squares.

"My turn" Max proclaimed before spending a minute thinking on where he should mark, clearly over thinking his move before he finally made a mark in the square above Dave's. "Beat that!"

Shawn simple made his mark and handed the stick over to Dave.

Dave sighed and sat his mark in a square that was no were near in line of his previous.

Shawn took notice and looked at Dave. "You miss Sky don't you?" he asked concerned.

"Yah" Dave sighed.

"I know what you mean, I miss talking to Jasmine" Shawn admitted.

"Your turn" Max interrupted and handed Shawn the stick.

"You know, I finally think I have figured out what you and I have in common" Shawn spoke to Dave.

"That our girlfriends hate us?" Dave said with a monotone tone.

"Exactly, we suck at romance" Shawn replied. "But I don't think your problems with Sky are as unsolvable as they seem man".

"Really, you think" Dave said with careful optimism.

"Yah, I think the problem is that she is looking for something else" Shawn answered.

Dave shot Shawn an angry look, believing he meant Sky wasn't interested in him.

Shawn understood the misunderstanding and waved his palms in defense. "No, not like that, what I mean is um…"

"He means that you were simple at the wrong place at the wrong time" Max interrupted somewhat disinterested.

"Right, exactly" Shawn exclaimed. "I think she likes you but she is a very competitive person dude, she isn't looking for a relationship but that doesn't mean you two can't come to some sort of compromise" Shawn said before making a mark and handing the stick over to Dave.

"I don't know, she seems to have been avoiding me" Dave told.

"Ok, well um…how about this. Try to find a time to talk to her. Not during a competition, not when she is gathering…"

"Not when she is on the toilet" Max added.

"Right" Shawn lightly chuckled. "Try to find a time she is available and don't just talk to her, try to listen to her. I am pretty sure you can change her mind" Shawn finished his argument.

Dave looked amazed at the other two. "Wow, that's actually really good advice coming from you two" he stated.

"Um, thanks" Shawn said precariously at Dave's backhanded compliment while Max simple smiled and nodded proudly.

Feeling a bit better Dave made his mark. "What about you and Jasmine than"?

"I don't think it is as simple" Shawn sighed. "I hit her in the face pretty hard, I am lucky if she ever lets that go". Shawn had an expression of total regret & depression.

"Doesn't sound so bad, it happens all the time. My dad beats my mom all the time, she goes away for a while and then happily comes back to him" Max plainly exclaimed.

Shawn & Dave stared disturbingly at Max after hearing his argument.

For the sake of his sanity Shawn decided to ignore it. "Maybe if the both of us make it to the merger I can find some way to make up for what I did but until then I am stuck, sort of like Dave in this game" Shawn said.

Dave got a bit startled by Shawn's last statement and looked at the game board. Shawn was right, his first mark was blocked from all fronts by his competition and his second mark would eventually get blocked no matter where he put his next mark. He had to start on a new row.

He looked to Max. "And how about you Max, do you miss Scarlett"?

"No, Evil misses no one" Max lied as vigorously as he could.

_If only his voice was darker, he could almost intimidate a twelve year old _Shawn thought to himself.

"I've seen you two work together during the challenges, you seem to get along well with each other" Dave stated.

"Me and my sidekick made a formidable team, am grateful for her contributions to my evil" Max arrogantly replied.

"Hmm, I doubt that Scarlett would like to be called your sidekick. It's kind of degrading" Shawn pointed out.

"Nonsense! It's a great honor to be positioned as my sidekick" Max exclaimed.

"I think Shawn is right Max, girls in this reality normally don't like being called a guy's sidekick" Dave said half mockingly.

"Especially guys they have a crush on" Dave added sheepishly.

"Ahh, I think I know what you're saying. You mean that my relationship with Scarlett would be better if I treated her as an equal" Max said.

"Um, yes" Dave said and nodded.

"BLAST FOR ME!" Max shouted. "…and can someone turn off those rocket engines" he added, covering his ears with his hands.

"That's not rocket engines its Sugar snoring" Shawn replied.

There were a few minutes of silence as the boys continued playing.

"So…" Max cleared his throat. "…what do you guys normally do when you're not on this retched island"? He asked curiously. Max had no friends at home and was not very knowledgeable of what normal teenagers did on their free time.

"Me, I normally practice my guitar or read books or play videogames. Pretty much anything that doesn't requirement to go out" Dave said.

Shawn knew about Dave's mysophobia and about Max megalomaniacal tendencies and for once he was glad his biggest fear was zombies. These two were their own worst enemies.

"What do you usually do zombie-boy?" Max asked in a snarky tone.

"Preparing for the apocalypse" Shawn shortly answered.

"Seriously" Dave said in a monotone voice.

"Yah, I set up obstacle courses in case I have to run from zombies, I read survival manuals, I learn martial arts and I have even made designs for my own safe bunker" Shawn gladly explained.

Max & Dave looked at him unimpressed. "Anything else"?

"Um…I like to play basketball sometimes" Shawn nervously replied.

"Hum, my dad tried to involve me in that vulgar sport." Max spoke. "My father, that mongrel, doesn't appreciate my keen intellect so he continuously signs me up for sports where I am meet with humiliation by the others, not that they leave me alone anywhere else." Max stopped to clear his throat. "But once I rule the world those PESTS will be the first to be brutally punished." Max finished his proclamation with his signature evil laugh.

"So…are you really an evil genius"? Shawn asked.

"Of course I am you buffoon"! Max almost shouted at him. "At home I study all the evil science. Mechanics, quantum physics, nuclear physics, military history…" Max suddenly calmed down. "But mostly I watch a lot of cartoons & read a lot of comics, studying my idols you know".

"Um, yah comics are cool" Shawn said.

Dave nodded. "I second that".

It was now Shawn's turn to mark. An expression of joy covered his face.

"Hey look, it looks like I win".

"What" Max exclaimed. He looked over the board. Shawn's X-marks now filled an entire row in an angled line.

Max pouted and looked at Shawn. "It's just a stupid game and the only reason you won "Shawn of the dead" is because I am tiered" Max said with poorly hidden jealousy.

Then Shawn heard something he hadn't heard for a while, Dave laughing.

"Shawn of the Dead" I never thought about that before" Dave said while laughing almost uncontrollable.

"Yah, I guess it was very humorous of me" Max said and started laughing along with Dave.

"O really original Max, I have never heard that one before" Shawn sarcastically spoke while waving his arms around, he then shot them angry glares that went unnoticed.

The three boys decided to go to sleep.

Max pressed himself in between two rocks. It was so tight between them that he barely fitted but it was just as he wanted it, it felt a little bit like being in a sleeping bag.

"Goodnight henchmen" he whispered to the others.

Dave laid back down on his rock, the one he claimed to be the cleanest. It was darker and had a different texture than the surrounding cave. He was about to fall asleep when he noticed something in the corner of his eye. It was Shawn, making himself comfortable on a cliff a bit higher up.

"Um, Shawn" Dave said to get his attention.

Shawn opened his eyes. "Yah".

"Aren't you um, sleeping up in the trees tonight?"

Shawn was surprised by this himself. He always slept up in the trees in case of any nightly zombie attacks but for some reason he decided to sleep in here. Realizing this he became a bit worried but managed to calm down.

"Nah, I think it's safe here" he stated.

Dave shot him a quick smile before laying back on his rock, using his arm as a pillow.

Shawn slept in too, he lied down like a dog, ready to pounce in case any zombies would attack but as the nigh went on his post eased up and he slept peacefully. He dreamt about Jasmine and his new weird friends, no zombies.

**Author's Note:**

**I just got the idea for this story and decided to write while the iron was still hot. If I waited for too long I might not have written it at all so sorry if this is not very thought out (thought out enough I hope).**

**I know I had to change Shawn's character a little bit for this to work, making him a little bit wiser & social than his normal paranoid & anti-social (but helpful) self. **

**Ps. I seriously doubt that Max would hit a girl or anybody, he is nicer than he makes himself out to be. In this case he is just a bit confused because of his dad.**

**All reviews are greatly appreciated. **


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